After Yan Shikuan left, Yi Zhizhi got up and paced to the balcony overlooking the busy scene on the Huangpu River, a Qingpu teaching plan, the British wanted to take the opportunity to expand the scope of mission, wanted to expand the territory of the Shanghai concession, he deliberately connived and instigated the hope of expanding the incident to gain self-respect, and did not want to help the Cao Gang and some people wanted to fish in troubled waters. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

With the construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway, the Cao Yun that has lasted for hundreds of years will be completely replaced by the railway, and tens of thousands of Cao Gang gangs who rely on Cao Yun for a living will face the dilemma of losing their livelihoods.

For the imperial court, maintaining local stability is much more important than building railways, once the Cao gang is in chaos, it will inevitably affect the construction process of the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway, and he, the initiator who advocated the construction of the railway and single-handedly promoted the construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway, will inevitably become the target of public criticism.

Judging from this incident, the hearts of the Cao Gang have been scattered! It's messy! In recent years, the Qing Dynasty has not been peaceful, floods, droughts, locust plagues, earthquakes and other natural disasters have continued, the Qinglian Sect and the Tiandihui have successively made trouble in Hunan and Guangxi, and large-scale riots have also broken out in Jiangsu because of the levy of grain.

A soft knock on the door sounded, and Yi Zhishu turned back to the room before ordering, "Come in." ”

As soon as the door opened, Lin Meilian walked in and reported softly: "Master Hou, the yamen is here to report, there is an urgent 800 miles from the Beijing Division." ”

Eight hundred miles expedited? Yi Zhishu frowned, is it because of the Qingpu lesson plan? If Daoguang has an edict, it will be a big trouble! After a slight sigh, he said: "Here, you and Xu Yixuan will arrange to take care of it, and I will go back to the Ya first." ”

In the second hall of the Prime Minister's Yamen, Bao Shichen, the chief of staff, was directing several scribes to spread out a large map, and when he saw Yi Zhizhi coming in, he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Master Hou is back..... ”

Yi Zhizu glanced at the map, and saw the panorama map of the emperor's public opinion - the map of the territory of the Qing Dynasty, and couldn't help but wonder secretly, at this time, what did Bao Shichen do when he turned this map out? He has seen the whole map of the emperor's opinion, and he also knows that this is after Kangxi put down the Galdan rebellion, it took hundreds of experts at home and abroad to gather more than 30 years to draw the map, known as the most refined and complete map of the Qing Dynasty, the prime minister Yamen This set of maps is the copper plate map of Kangxi in 58 years, with longitude and latitude, a total of 41 pieces, very fine.

"Master Hou, please ——。" The two entered the signing room, and Bao Shichen handed him the 800 li urgent court, and said: "Tsarist Russia has asked for trade ...... in Ili, Tarbagatai, and Kashgar. ”

Yi Zhisuff because he often travels around, even if he is in Shanghai, he does not spend much time in the Yamen, and often does not see anyone for several days, in order to prevent delays in urgent matters, he authorized Bao Shichen to read it first, and after listening to this, he understood why the other party moved out the full map of the emperor at this hour, which was in case he wanted to consult the map.

After reading the court mail, Yi Zhizhi lit a cigarette and didn't say a word, while Bao Shichen took in the map of Xinjiang, Tibet, Mongolia and other northwestern provinces, and saw that the sky was a little dark, and ordered a few candlesticks to be lit, and then said slowly: "Tsarist Russia asked Ili to open up the three places as treaty ports, which should be because the imperial court opened Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai as treaty ports..... ”

Yi Zhishu asked casually while searching for the three places of Ili on the map, "What is the opinion of the gentleman?" ”

After a slight sigh, Bao Shichen said: "Tsarist Russia's request to open the three places of Ili as a treaty port is obviously ill-intentioned, and the imperial court should be in a dilemma about this, allowed, worried that Tsarist Russia will gain an inch, and will not allow it, and worried that Tsarist Russia will disturb the northwest, and now the court is heavily indebted, so naturally he does not want anything to happen in the northwest, and besides, the emperor is now very old and does not want to use troops in the northwest at this time." ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said, "Sir, do you mean to agree to open the three places of Ili as a treaty port?" ”

"The imperial court should be inclined to this choice." Bao Shichen said slowly: "If the Hou Ye is opposed, the imperial court may push the boat down the river, and let Yuan Qi send troops and money to garrison the three places of Yili, Xinjiang is thousands of miles away, and it is difficult to control." ”

Staring at the map and smoking a cigarette silently for a long time, Yi Zhizhi sighed and said, "There are some things that you know you can't do, and you have to do them, and people always do a few stupid things in their lives......." ”

Bao Shichen listened to it for a while, and said in amazement: "Master Hou is this going to object?" ”

"It must be opposed!" Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "For the Qing Dynasty, this part of Central Asia is of great strategic significance, in recent years, Tsarist Russia has invaded and annexed the Kazakh Khanate, controlled the Kazakh steppe, and gradually encroached on the Kokand Khanate of the Bukhara Khanate, and now the spearhead is directed at Xinjiang!" Ili is the first to bear the brunt!

Ili is an important passage from Central Asia to Xinjiang, has a very high strategic position, has always been an important military town, how can it be opened up as a treaty port for Tsarist Russia to enter and exit at will? ”

As he spoke, he clicked on the map and said, "Sir has always paid attention to the southeast, and he doesn't know much about Tsarist Russia in the northwest..... After a pause, he continued: "The Russian missions and caravans came to the Qing Dynasty, and they are currently passing through the difficult Mongolian Plateau, how long will it take? Six or seven months! However, if Tsarist Russia opens up the passage to Xinjiang and enters the Central Plains through Gansu, four or five months will be enough. ”

Speaking of this, he said in an accentuated tone: "Compared with European powers such as England and France, Tsarist Russia poses the greatest threat to the Qing Dynasty, which not only borders the Qing Dynasty, but also has the greatest expansion ambitions, and the Qing Dynasty not only wants to curb the momentum of Tsarist Russia's expansion to the east and south, but also further compete with Tsarist Russia for control of Central Asia!"

Even if we know it's a loss-making business, we have to do it! Now that the emperor is old, Yuan Qi actively supports the imperial court to deploy garrisons in the northwest, asking for money and soldiers, so that the imperial court can also eliminate some of the court's wariness of Yuan Qi, which can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone. ”

Listening to these words, Bao Shichen couldn't help but secretly admire, and actively supported the imperial court to defend the northwest, not only to curb the Tsarist Russia's coveting of Xinjiang, to win the trust of the imperial court, but also to increase the imperial court's dependence on Yuanqi, by the way, Yuanqi's power will inevitably penetrate into the northwest, this is not just killing two birds with one stone, in terms of this bold-mindedness and vision, few people can really match.

No one knows better than Yi Zhixin how much damage Tsarist Russia and the Japanese have done to China, but Tsarist Russia has forcibly seized more than one million square kilometers of territory from China, and it is the country that invades and occupies the most territory.

After a slight mutter, he continued: "In addition, the pattern of the world today has long been very different from the past, the strategy of guarding the central and governing the border, guarding the border in the four Yi and the relationship between the clan and the vassal should urge the imperial court to change, and urge the imperial court to carry out border political reform, Xinjiang and Tibet in the northwest, Yunnan and Guizhou in the southwest and then Annan, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Shengjing in the northeast, and Uriya Sutai in Mongolia, etc., must be changed to return to the land, immigrate to the real border, garrison, and set up provincial .......

The previous policy of ethnic isolation and weakening, and the various methods of establishing and controlling the border areas with generals, metropolitan government offices, Tusi, and ministers stationed in Tibet must be abandoned, and the central authority should be more deeply and extensively absorbed into the border areas through border political reform and changes in the administrative structure.

It is necessary to gradually strengthen the direct rule over the border areas, so that the border areas and the inland provinces tend to be consistent as much as possible, so as to ensure the consistency between regions - between the border areas and the inland provinces to the greatest extent, and eliminate regional and ethnic differences as much as possible, so that the Qing Dynasty can be transformed into a unified and powerful empire as soon as possible. ”

Speaking of this, he glanced at Bao Shichen and said, "Mr. will sort out these ideas and prepare an excerpt - border political reform, and report it." ”

"That's a big article." Bao Shichen thought about it for a while, but felt that it was wrong, and hesitated a little before he said: "Does the border political reform seem to have the intention of urging the imperial court to garrison Xinjiang ......?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled, "Mr. only saw the garrison, but he ignored the real side of the immigrants. ”

"What does Master Hou mean...... Cao Gang? ”

Yi Zhizu said, "Not bad." ”

Bao Shichen frowned and said: "Xinjiang has always been a place of exile, and the Cao Gang is afraid that no one wants to go to Xinjiang. ”

"If you are willing to go, then enrich Xinjiang." Yi Zhizhi said disapprehantly: "If you don't want to go, we can also push the boat along the river, in short, immigrating to the real side is the best way to settle the Cao Gang." ”

Bao Shichen reacted instantly, the so-called pushing the boat along the river, immigrating to the real side, refers to the South Seas! One Xinjiang and one Nanyang, the Cao Gang is afraid that most of them will choose Nanyang, and the imperial court is afraid that it will not be possible to come up with a better method.

Yi Zhizhi didn't break it, picked up the court and trembled, "Tsarist Russia has asked for the opening of the three places of Ili as a treaty port for two consecutive years, and Yuanqi is willing to actively support the deployment of the northwest, for the imperial court, it can be said that it will not only solve the trouble of the northwest, but also weaken the strength of Yuanqi, and will inevitably agree, however, the Marine Corps military attache is young after all, and he does not understand the ...... of the northwest." After a pause, he continued: "I remember that in the early years, Mr. recommended Zuo Ji Gao ...... ”

Zuo Zongtang is the in-laws of Tao Shu, the governor of Liangjiang, Tao Shu entrusted his only son Tao Shu to him before his death, and married him, and gave him a very high evaluation, which was a very sensational thing at the time, after all, Zuo Zongtang was just a person, and Tao Shu was the governor of Liangjiang, and the difference between the identities and status of the two sides could not be calculated.

Bao Shichen was a staff member of Tao Shu, the governor of Liangjiang, and Zuo Zongtang had been with him for several months, and he was also very appreciative of it. ”

Since Yi Zhishu planned to garrison Xinjiang, contain Tsarist Russia, and compete for Central Asia, he naturally thought of Zuo Zongtang, nodded slightly, and then said: "I also bothered Mr. to repair a book and invite him to come to Shanghai for a meeting." ”

On the bow deck, Davis, who was a little bald in his early forties, pointed to Wu Song, who was lined with chimneys in front of him, and said: "In front is Wu Song, and Yuan Qi's Yida shopkeeper plans to connect Wu Song and Shanghai into one to form a huge city." ”

Standing beside him was a man in his forties with curly blond hair, and when he heard this, he shook his head slightly and said, "What a crazy idea. ”

"When you see Shanghai New Town, you don't think it's crazy." Davis smiled, the second Governor of Hong Kong, the British Minister Plenipotentiary to China, the British Commercial Director in China, and a China expert, who arrived in Guangzhou at the age of 18 and worked for the East India Company. As a young man, he traveled to Beijing as an attaché to the British mission. In 1833, the British established the Office of the Superintendent of Commercial Affairs in China, and was appointed as the Superintendent of Commercial Affairs. He studied Chinese culture quite a lot, and even gave himself the Chinese name De Pishi.

However, the Governor of Hong Kong resigned in anger because he did not have the support of businessmen and subordinates in China, and the man with curly blond hair standing beside him was Sir Bonhamham, who succeeded him as Governor, British Minister Plenipotentiary to China, and British Commercial Director in China.

As soon as he took office, he encountered such a thing as the Qingpu teaching case, Wen Xian was naturally depressed, and he was also a little uncertain about sending a fleet to Shanghai to blockade Wusongkou and seize the Cao Gang Cao boat, although Davis had stepped down, he was also worried that this matter would affect the relations between the two countries, after all, the British investment in China was huge, so he simply came to Shanghai with Wen Xian's fleet to explore the details.

The steamship docked at a newly built wharf in the British Concession, and the consul in Shanghai, Elcock, rushed to the pier to greet him personally, and returned to the consulate to go to the office on the second floor. ”

Wen Xian was silent, but Davis said unceremoniously: "Not to mention the current strength of Wusong Fort, whether the Hong Kong Fleet has the ability to blockade Wusongkou, do you know how big our investment is in China now?" It has exceeded 10 million pounds! Have you ever considered the consequences of starting a war? Besides, you wouldn't know the relationship between Yuan Qi and the Cao Gang, right? ”

"Of course, I know the relationship between Yuanqi and the Cao Gang, and I also know what the construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway means to the Cao Gang." Elcock said calmly: "As the Imperial Consul in Shanghai, I will naturally put the interests of the Empire and the Imperial merchants first. ”

After a pause, he lowered his voice and said, "Transferring the fleet to block Wusongkou is not my proposal, but the proposal of Yi Da's shopkeeper." ”

Wen Xian paused, and then asked, "Why?" ”

"I don't know exactly why." Elcock shrugged his shoulders and then said, "However, in return, the shopkeeper of Yi Da will agree to open up another concession of about 1,000 acres east of the new city." ”

Wen Xianyi frowned, "Originally, there were 2,000 acres of concessions in Shanghai, and we didn't have many people in Shanghai, so what do we want so many concessions for?" ”

Davis knew how rare the concession in Shanghai was now, and immediately said with a happy face: "Arrange for us to have a private meeting with the shopkeeper of Yida as soon as possible." ”